The SummitRacing.com
NHRA Nationals event is history and it sure seemed like the strong survived
to take home the championships. By that I mean that the three winners in the NHRA Mello Yello Series classes are all
current or former champions who have all had a pretty good start to the season.
Tony Schumacher, Cruz Pedregon and Allen Johnson were the top winners and while it's true that Cruz
may not be quite as hot as the other two winners it certainly seems like he has
a car that can contend for the championship this year. We know for a fact that
the "Sarge" and "AJ" are both in this for the long run and they appear to have
the best cars in their respective classes at this time. There are a lot of
races ahead including the always entertaining, if not sometimes wacky. 4-Wide Nationals coming up but I
wouldn't be surprised if the three winners in Las Vegas weren't all at or near
the top of the standings the next time the tour hits The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It appears that the really big winner this week was Allen
Johnson who took his Pro Stock Dodge
to the winner's circle for the second time this year and the second time in the
last two races. Not that anybody was worried about Allen after the first two
races of the season but he certainly is pouring it on right now, isn't he? His
back-to-back wins have him in first place and it will take a really good car
and driver, or maybe that wacky 4-Wide Nationals, to get him out of that top
spot. By the way before I get any e-mails when I say "wacky" I mean it as a
term of endearment. I absolutely love the 4-Wide event and wish I could be
there, because for my money it's one of the best shows in drag racing, or any
racing for that matter. It's just that, occasionally, some wacky things do happen..Now,
where was I? Oh, yeah, Allen Johnson. Did
you know that his four round wins on Sunday gave him 318 for his career
and that moves him into sole possession of tenth place on the all time Pro
Stock list? Like I said last week he has been as good as any driver in the
class over the past few years and right now he appears to be the one you will
have to beat if you want to win the championship. There are lots, and I mean
lots of other teams who could beat him but they will have to be just about
perfect to do it. Allen was good all year last year but it was the Denver race, the Mopar Mile High Nationals, when he
really started to shine. Did you know
that, including the Denver
race, Allen has now been to ten final rounds at the last fifteen races and he
has won seven of those races? Now that's dominating, especially in a class as
competitive as Pro Stock. With his wins in Gainesville and Las Vegas Allen has

Johnson defeated Enders-Stevens on Saturday and Sunday.

now also won back-to-back races three times since the Denver race and that,
too, is very impressive..Allen now knows how Vincent Nobile felt last year when he "doubled-up" by winning the K&N Horsepower Challenge on
Saturday and the national event on Sunday. And Erica Enders-Stevens knows how Jason
Line felt last year when he lost in both of the finals on Saturday and
Sunday. Did you know that
Allen became the seventh different driver to pull off the "double-up" in Pro
Stock history and it has now happened in consecutive years and both times it was
done by a Dodge?...Mike Edwards was
the top qualifier again in Pro Stock but that first national event win of the
year continues to elude him. Did you
know that when none of the number one qualifiers won in Vegas it was
the sixth time in the fourteen year history of the event that not a single
number one driver went the distance on Sunday? It also marked the third time in
event history that a Pro Stock driver was number one, set low elapsed time and
top speed and didn't get the win. Did
you know that in the first two years of the event, 2000 and 2001, Ron Krisher and Jim Yates set all the performance marks and yet neither one came
out with a win. Like I often say, that's why we make them go out and race on
Sunday.Mike Edwards qualified number one and that's interesting for a guy who
is driving a car that says "I Am Second"
on it. This makes four consecutive races that Mike has paced the field to start
the year and did you know the

Rickie Jones

last time that happened in Pro Stock was in 2004 when Greg Anderson did it?..Rickie Jones looked good with his car
and he checked in at the number four spot with his Camaro. Did you know that in his fifty-two races this was his
highest starting position? It's always great to see the young drivers do well
because that's good for everyone in the sport...Rickie faced another young
driver, Deric Kramer, in round one
and this was the third time this year that Deric has been in the starting
lineup. Nice job by both of those teams and I hope we see a lot of them in the
future..Greg Anderson and Jason Line
met in round one and that doesn't happen very often. Since both of them are
usually in the top half of the field an opening round match between the two Summit Racing teammates is very
unusual. Did you know that in
the forty-six times they have faced each other this was only the third time
that it happened in round one?

I don't think anyone who follows the Top Fuel class thought
that Tony Schumacher, Mike Green and
the Army team wouldn't be factors in
the championship battle this year, and if they did they were wrong and they
were probably watching a different sport. For years now that team has been

Schumacher and crew cewlebrate second win of the season.

consistently strong and they have started off the 2013 season in fine fashion
with three final rounds and a pair of wins. Did
you know that in 2004 Tony had that kind of start to the year and he
went on to win the championship? In fact, in 2003, he won three of the first
four races and ten overall on his way to the title. Tony's four round wins on
Sunday gave him 642 for his career and that moved him past Larry Dixon and into fourth place on the all-time NHRA win list. Did you know that only John Force, Warren Johnson and Kenny
Bernstein have won more rounds than Tony has?...It should come as no
surprise that the top three teams in the standings right now are all from Team Schumacher. Tony has the lead
followed closely by Antron Brown,
the runner-up in Vegas, with Spencer
Massey in third place. To show you how dominant Tony and Antron have been
to start the year there are 122 points between Antron and Spencer and there are
only 73 points between Spencer and the tenth place driver, Brandon Bernstein.By
the way, did you know that
Spencer started from the bottom half of the field for the third time already
this year, and that in the entire 2012 season he was in the bottom half just
twice?..Clay Millican made a nice
showing, especially during qualifying, and he is currently in fifth place in
the points. When Clay secured the number two spot in the field did you know that equaled his
best starting position ever and that the last time he was that high in the
field was at the Norwalk

Terry McMillen

race in 2007? It looks like that partnership with Bob Vandergriff may be paying off. There are several reasons why I
miss being at the race and one of the top reasons would be that I want to be
there when Clay and Terry McMillen win
their fist NHRA events. Now that will be special..Speaking of Terry he had his
best showing in a long while and it took a very good run by Antron in the
semi-finals to take him out. Terry, who qualified in the ever popular, lucky
number thirteen spot, went on to beat Khalid
alBalooshi and David Grubnic
before losing to Antron. Did you know
that this was Terry's first semi-final since the Atlanta race in 2011 when he lost to, you
guessed it, Antron Brown. Good job by both Clay and Terry and I hope that first
win comes soon for both of them...Congrats also to Brittany Force for winning her first round of racing when she beat Doug Kalitta. Did you know that Brittany
was the seventh different woman that Doug has faced in eliminations and before
his run against her he was a combined 33-12 against the other women? Now make
that 33-13.

Cruz Pedregon and his "no name" crew earned a name in Las Vegas and that name
is winner! The Snap-On Tools Toyota
ran well, as he has all year, but this time he managed to win four rounds on
Sunday. For the last year or so Cruz has had a good car on Friday and Saturday

Pedregon and crew celebrate win.

but putting four winning rounds together on Sunday had been a bit elusive, but
not now.He opened up with a win over Gary Densham, his second favorite
target throughout his career. Did you
know that Cruz has now beaten Gary
twenty-five times and the only driver he has beaten more than that is John
Force (28)? Cruz followed that with wins over Johnny Gray and Alexis
DeJoria before beating Courtney
Force in the final round. The meeting between Cruz and Alexis was their
first and she became the sixth different woman that he has faced and it marked
the first time in his career that he faced two women at the same event. Did you know that the win was the
31st of his Funny Car career and that moves him past Kenny Bernstein
and into fifth place on the Funny Car win list?He also added four round wins to his career and that moved him past Ron Capps and into third place on the
Funny Car list. Sounds like a good weekend for Cruz and I'm sure it won't be
his last in 2013..Courtney Force continues to impress with her steady and solid
performances on Sunday. Gee, I wonder how many women like being described as
"steady and solid?" Oh well, you get the idea. Anyway, she is in the lead in
the points and looks like she may have the best car in the Team Force camp this
year..While Courtney was finishing second to Cruz Alexis DeJoria had one of her
better days as a pro when she made it to the semi-finals, and when you couple

Kayla Mozeris

that with Erica Enders-Stevens good weekend (a pair of runner-up finishes on
Saturday and Sunday) and the win by Kayla
Mozeris in Stock Eliminator and you have another good day for the women at
an NHRA event. Oh, in case you didn't hear, Danica Patrick finished twelfth in her NASCAR race this weekend and I'm surprised that didn't make
headlines somewhere.

Joey Severance
loves The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and if he doesn't, he should. Did you know that Joey has now
been to ten final rounds in his Top Alcohol Dragster career and that six of
them have come in Las Vegas?
Joey picked up his third win when he beat Chris
Demke in a great final round and he did it on a holeshot. This was the
eighth holeshot win of his career and only the second time he beat Demke in their
seven head-to-head meetings. .As far as the runner-up was concerned did you know that Chris Demke and
Jerry Mattern's Peen Rite/OSI/801
team have now been to the finals at their last six national events? Very

Dan Fletcher celebrates 42nd Super Stock win.

impressive....Tony Bartone won in
the Top Alcohol Funny Car class and it sure looks like the Rick Jackson owned team will be title contenders again this year.
In fact it looks like the TAFC class may have the best group of cars that we
have seen in a while, and even with Frank
Manzo in the mix, I think you could see the best title race in quite some
time. Did you know that Tony's
four rounds on Sunday gave him 467 for his career and that moved him past Vern Moats and into fifth place among
drivers in the alky classes? Only Jay
Payne, Manzo, Pat Austin and Bob Newberry have competed in more
rounds in the alcohol classes than Tony has...Dan Fletcher continues to add to his legacy as one of the best
drivers ever. Dan took home Super Stock honors for the 42nd time in his career
and that was his 81st win overall. Did you know that his forty-two Super Stock wins are, by
far, the most in class history? Jeff
Taylor is in second place with his twenty-eight wins so that just shows you
how good Dan is, has been and, apparently, will continue to be.